Extinction

Kasandra Singh || ||
 * || =Extinction=

Overview
A whole species is dying out. You may be their only hope. Can you save them from Extinction?

You are a life sciences investigator. You go around collecting clues about why species are dying out. Then you make your guess and a Nature Preservation Center will implement a plan based on your suggestion. If you guess right you will save a species from extinction, if you guess wrong your species might die out!

Instructional Objective
Learners will be able to: 1. Identify what a species needs in order to survive. 2. List the reasons why a species might go extinct. 3. List things human beings can do to preserve our natural world. 4. List ways in which species may depend on/be affected by other species. //*Note: These objectives are derived from life science standards for 4th-12th grades. Specific objectives vary by state.//

Learners
This game is designed for learners between the ages of 10-14. These students may be in 4-8th grade. They should have a basic understanding of animal life cycles and habitats.

Context of Use
Each scenario in this game can be played within 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on the players prior knowledge and skill level) on a personal computer at home or in a computer lab. The game would have between 8-10 scenarios built in based on actual events which have taken place (many species have already died out or are currently facing extinction). Prior to the game students should simply have an understanding of basic animal life cycles, habitats and the co-dependence of species on each other.

Scope
This game will include 8-10 scenarios based on real life events. The game scenarios may include peppered moths near extinction of the white colored moth, the dodo bird extinction, and the silverback gorilla's near extinction to name a few. Each scenario takes place at a different Nature Preservation Center (you choose at the beginning of the game which center to go to). You then fly to that city and the center tells you the scenario. The city/town you are in will be viewed on the screen. You may click to enter different locations to ask the people questions. The graphics can be elaborate or generic but you should be able to actually see the town and the people. The questions are given on a "notepad" on the bottom of your screen. Information is added to your notepad as it is received. After the information is gathered you make your guess and see if you are correct.

Object of the Game
The goal of the game is to figure out the reason why the species is dying out and propose a solution. Once the solution is determined it will be implemented. If you are right, your species will be saved. If not, the scientists at the preservation center will tell you that the species is still going down in population. You only get two tries to guess the correct reason. On the third try, if you have still guessed wrong your species will become extinct.

Competing Products
This game is like Carmen Sandiego except biology related and the object of the game is to save a species, not to catch Carmen Sandiego. See more about [|Carmen SanDiego].

Design Details
The basic structure of the game is as listed below:

1. You are presented with a scenario. 2. You are given a list of questions to check off. 3. You go around the town/city asking people questions that are on your list. 4. You write the answers on your notepad. 5. Once your questions are answered a multiple choice question with a list of reasons why you think it’s happening comes up. You choose which reason you think it is. You then go to the local life sciences Nature Preservation Center and present your thoughts. They will implement a solution based on your idea and then a clock will appear showing that time is going by. If you guessed wrong the scientist at the preservation center will tell you that the species is continuing to die out, if you guessed right they will tell you that you are correct and will congratulate you on saving the species.

See an example of one scenario from the game here: [|Peppered_moths.jpg]

//** __Universal Elements__ **// In this game the pictures of the species, etc will be photo-realistic. Also when you are talking to the people, you will see their photo. When inside a location you will see a realistic setting. When outside in the town, you will see game like graphics that are not cartoonish but more the basic layout of a "map," seeing the world from above. The reason for incorporating some photo-realistic pictures is that the scenarios are based on real events.

//** __Specific Elements__ **// The game is a branching game which starts out at a main screen with many different possible scenarios. You choose the case you want to solve by choosing which species/location of the world you want to work in. The following diagram shows the flow of the game: Once you choose which Nature Preservation Center you would like to work in, you will have a new set of places, which you can visit within the city/town to gather clues about the species you are studying. The layout may look something like this: Screen Shots: The following pictures are "screen shots" of the game. The first is a picture of the main screen after a scenario has been chosen. The following elements are included within the game. There is a person to the left instructing or giving clues to the player. There is a map showing where the person is in town and allowing them to move about from place to place. There is a note taking section and a toolbox providing all the tools necessary to play the game. // The second picture is a screen shot of the normal view of the game from within the town/city. Again, the same basic elements (map, tool box, etc.) are included. //   // The next screen shot shows a slightly different view somewhat closer in. You can get to this close up view by pressing the "Change View" button. You can make a guess about the solution to the scenario at any time by clicking "Consult fellow researchers." Once you make a correct guess, the game is over. Or, if you cannot guess correctly within three tries, the species dies out. //

__//**Technical Elements**//__
 * Software Elements: This game could be created with Adobe Flash.

Motivational Issues
The game provides a challenge and makes use of curiosity of the player as they search for clues to save a species. As it is designed, the game has a good sense of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) as it is continually leading the participant to the right answer and providing information along the way so that a player starting out with only basic knowledge of life cycles can learn as the game plays out. The flow of the game is continual in that it constantly gives feedback by providing several clues to the player. The player continually makes guesses about where to go and their questions are being answered throughout the game. If the level of the challenge is too hard for the players then more clues and directions are given to help them find their way. If the player does not need the direction they can go through the game without it. Some design elements that were taken into consideration were those suggested by Lepper (2001) in his review of children’s preferences in computer game play. The presence of a clear goal is important and this game has an obvious goal. There is the interaction of characters in the game speaking to the player. Thought there is no score there are notes taken and encouragement from the characters that the player is either on the right path or directing them in another patch. The use of real situations adds social relevance to the game as well as sparking the player's curiousity.

Design Process
When designing the game, I had several different initial ideas, some of which I rejected and some of which I later combined to make this game. My first ideas were very broad and far too large to make a workable game. Some of my ideas I found were too similar to games that are already in existence.Then I remembered a biology class from high school in which we were given different scenarios about species that were dying. We had to guess why the species was dying based on some clues. I thought to myself, "How can I re-create that kind of process in a game?" As I asked this, I began forming an idea for an investigative game and I realized almost immediately that it was similar to Carmen Sandiego. I tried to branch away from that game and make it much more focused on the biology and the scenario at hand. Carmen SanDiego has a very similar layout but in that game you are chasing after a criminal. In this game, the clues you are looking for are not about the last destination of a criminal but about what might be causing problems in the natural habitat of endangered species. In the future if redesigning the game, I might include some random elements, unexpected twists and turns, as suggested by Lepper (2001). There could be a specimen found that gives a clue or a report could come in saying that the danger level to the species is increasing. There could be a life signs bar on the top of the screen that shows how the species is doing, this could serve a scorekeeping type of function. All in all the game as it is I believe would be successful but can be improved in future designing.